French diplomat arrested for raping daughter

Bangalore: French diplomat Pascal Mazurier, who has been accused of raping his three-and-a-half-year-old daughter, was arrested by Bangalore Police early Tuesday.

Mazurier, who works as Deputy Head of Chancery in the Consulate of France in Bangalore, was taken into custody at 6.30 am today and taken for a medical examination, following which he would be produced before a magistrate court in the city.

Police had registered a case of rape against the diplomat, under Section 376 of Indian Penal Code.

The police moved into arrest Mazurier after the Union government confirmed that he does not have diplomatic immunity and can be prosecuted in India. Mazurier holds a service passport and not a diplomatic passport.

The diplomat`s wife, Suja Jones Mazurier, who is an Indian citizen, had requested that her husband be restrained from leaving the country till legal proceedings were completed and that under no circumstance should he be allowed custody of their children, who are French nationals.

Suja and Mazurier have three children- a seven year-old son, the victim and a 20-month-old son.

Suja had reported the case to police with the help of a Bangalore-based NGO after her maid told her that her child was sexually abused by her father.